


Flapperette.

by Vriskaserbet



Series: Bend Your Willow And Weep For Me [2]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Fluff, Hallucinations, Musical Instruments, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vriskaserbet/pseuds/Vriskaserbet
Summary: Sammy goes outside for the first time in months. It somehow goes far better then he'd expected.





	Flapperette.

Flapperette.

\------------------------------------

Sammy’s room was a simple little room, really. In the middle of his room was a large bed, with light blue sheets and darker blue pillows. A plush rabbit was sitting on top of the sheets, that Sammy affectionately named Sugar. Right by it was his nightstand, featuring two drawers for his miscellaneous items, with a white lamp and a white alarm clock plugged in on top. The tan carpet was soft underneath his feet, lightly stained black from the little bits of ink that got rubbed off his body occasionally. To the left, there was a nice table for him to draw on, with a comfortable chair to match. To the right, there was a white closet for his few different outfits. Finally, pushed all the way to the front and facing the bed was his small book case, with only one cubby halfway filled with books, all old ones Henry found in his garage. 

It was still developing its own personality, though there was one particular thing he had in his room. Tucked into the closet was his old banjo, that had been collecting dust for the past few months.

Today, Sammy pulled it out with a proud smile.

Walking down with it over his shoulder, he made his way down the stairs. Henry was waiting there, smiling happily, holding a large plate covered with chocolate chip cookies.

“Oh! That’s what you were grabbing! That’s wonderful, you haven’t touched it since you got here.”

He looked down at his banjo. It was covered in ink stains, the strings clearly ancient and needing repair, but it still seemed reliable. The one time he played it since arriving at Henry’s house, it seemed to play fine. It was the only time he tried, as he tried to forget about the attempt by shoving it in his closet. But, that was months ago. He was certain he could handle trying it again, after all his hard work.

“Alright… can you open the door for me? My hands are a bit tied at the moment.”

Sammy nodded after a pause, taking a step forward to the door. He felt himself hesitate, right above the doorknob, but he pushed through, opening it fully. The warm sunlight ghosted over his skin, making him shiver lightly with pleasure. Sammy walked forward onto the porch, his entire body being warmed. He barely noticed Henry shuffling behind him, setting the plate down on the porch table. 

“I’ll be right back! I’ll go pour us some milk!” Henry hurried to the door, closing it behind him. Sammy didn’t reply, staring intensely at the outside world. 

The neighborhood was alike many others. Picture-perfect houses, nearly identical from one another with neatly trimmed lawns and pretty white fences. There were small differences, as some had gardens or trees in their lawn, or some were particularly bare or overgrown. The residences were varied, ranging from families, to newlyweds, to old folks, to a few loners.

The spring weather was nice, warm with a cool breeze. The bright blue sky was dotted with innocent, fluffy white clouds, that showed no sign of rain. Perfect weather for all the kids to play outside. So, they were. 

They were out on the sidewalks and the empty roads, engaging in hop-scotch, tag, jump ropes, ball games, all sort of fun. Most of their parents were outside, ensuring they were playing safely and enjoying the weather.

Some turned to face him, giving a polite, yet strained smile. The kids stared at him with big black eyes with long eyelashes that blinked far too fast and it felt so wrong-

He forced himself to shut his eyes, inhaling deeply before he opened them again. The kids were looking at him, but after parents scolded them about politeness, they hurried back to playing. Though, a few kept sneaking glances at him. Sammy was certain it was a little upsetting, but he couldn’t find it himself to get worked up about it. If he was a little child, he’d stare at the man made out of ink to.

He took a seat in the right wooden chair, right by the porch table. The chair rocked, so he pushed himself in a steady movement to calm his racing heart. He soon relaxed, his mind at ease. There was still flickers of unreality, but he could stomach through them now. He placed the banjo on his lap, for later.

Henry finally returned with two cool, freshly poured glasses of milk. “I’m back! Thanks for waiting, pal.” Henry sat down next to him, placing the glasses down. Sammy immediately grabbed a cookie, dipping it in milk and eating it in half within a second. 

“Ah! That still shocks me!” Sammy laughed lightly, after swallowing.

“Anything chocolate deserves to be eaten as quickly as possible, before you eat them all.” 

“Believe me, it’s the other way around.” he rolled his eyes playfully, taking a cookie and dipped it himself. 

For a few minutes, the two ate in silence, enjoying the day. Sammy watched Henry from time to time. He was focused on the kids, enjoying their antics and play. The man was a true big softie towards kids, it was obvious to anyone. He wondered how the man hadn’t gotten himself a wife yet and had a little army of mini-Henrys. Perhaps work, he guessed.

His mind drifted on and off, trying to recall if he ever saw Henry with a girlfriend, slowly morphing to the old studio and some of the old music he’d used to play there. There, he hit a land mine of a memory, flooding him with everything he needed to recall.

Taking one last bite of his latest cookie, he got into position. He placed the bottom of the banjo comfortably on his lap, his fingers resting on the strings. The neck was pointed upwards, that he held near the top. He recalled the notes in his head again, still clear, and began to play.

It… was offkey, so he took a moment to tune his banjo. He was well aware of Henry’s eyes on him, but he kept himself focused on his instrument. After all these years, it was still serving him so well. It was only fair he’d serve it to, playing something decently, even for a moment. 

His fingers, at first, felt clumsy and awkward on the strings. He played slow on the strings, the notes coming out one by one. At times, his four fingers made playing quite difficult. Last time, he had gotten so frustrated, wanting to excel as he used to and ended up giving up shortly after. While he felt a growing annoyance in his chest, Sammy pushed forward. 

“One, two, three, four…” he whispered to himself before every new attempt, to ensure his next try would be **perfect.**

_‘No, not perfect,’_ Sammy reminded himself. _‘Just better.’_

As he kept trying, he felt his fingers run smoother together, bunching the notes much better. He played a little faster to, keeping closer to the original song. It wasn’t perfect, really. It still felt clunky all together, it was still played far too slow, coming off as embarrassingly amateurish.

But he was playing again. 

Even though he ended up forgetting the second half of the notes for a little bit, or that his fingers still stumbled and paused, he was playing again. 

He was playing and Henry was tapping his foot along to the beat, with closed eyes and a gentle smile, like back in the days. 

It was alright. It was good for now.

**Author's Note:**

> NYA heres the second installment of the series! im starting off the series of events slowly. i was going to introduce my first big plot point in this chapter, but i realized i was going.. a little too fast. so! it'll take some time before we reach it, but i cant wait for you guys to see! so for now, i used this to establish the little world and setting sammy n henry currently live in! sometime during the '60s, a lil nice neighborhood and the general people who live there. i think soon i'll introduce the more distinct characters!!
> 
> the title of the story is based on the song sammy is trying to play! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DiPGAWLCPg 
> 
> its a 1930s banjo cover from a piano song during the 1920s! its a really pretty song and i imagine sammy enjoyed it a lot back when he first heard it!
> 
> okie i think thats it, hope to see yall soon with the next story! :D


End file.
